FAA to stop providing test supplement books for knowledge tests.

Change is coming. In October, the FAA will not provide a test supplement book for you to use during the knowledge tests.  Instead, they will keep the images out of public view and insert them into the online test. The images can change from one test to the next for the same rating.

This is an attempt by the FAA to reduce the amount of memorization used to inflate test scores artificially.

This change is coming first to the Instrument Rating knowledge tests. That will happen on October 27, 2026. The other tests will follow, but we don’t have a hard date yet.

Images will be randomly selected to match up with a question. So one person could get the same quest up n as another with a different image, so the answer would also be different.

I am in favor of the changes. I would also like to see the FAA use a weighting system in the test. Currently, every question has the same point value regardless of its complexity. It would be better for a more complex question to have more points than a rote one. Currently, you could skip learning the entire flight planning section of the private or commercial test and still get a good score. With a weighted test, this wouldn’t be possible.

To be fair, someone on our Power Hour last Saturday posed a very valid question. He asked, “What accidents or incidents created the need for this change?”  Good question. I looked into the safety records between FAA general aviation piston airplane pilots and EASAs. The data is difficult to compare because EASA doesn’t report accidents per 100,000 flight hours, as the FAA does. But in the data available, it appears there is no real difference between pilots who took EASA's rigorous knowledge tests and those who took the current FAA tests.

I believe we can structure a better oral examination if the knowledge test results more accurately reflect the applicant's actual knowledge. It could be that the reason there isn’t a huge difference in accident rates is the systems we work in and the airplanes we fly. There may be elasticity there; if not, we would bear out the whole story. Well, we don’t have that data, and it would be difficult to quantify anyway.

So, be prepared for October if you are taking the Instrukent rating or remote pilot knowledge tests. We will see when the others change.

Airlines are slowing hiring - You should not slow down your training

The rumors are true: Airlines aren’t hiring many new pilots for FO positions. There are still good opportunities for experienced Captains. I know, not what you wanted to hear.

For those of us who have been in this business for a while, this is not new. Lots of things can throw off hiring, like ticket and fuel prices, mergers, airline shutdowns, and so on. It’s a cycle that has many moving parts.

I think you need to treat what is happening like you do some type of investing. Dollar cost averaging. Investing the same amount at the same frequency does not matter. In the short term, there could be losses, but if you stay, the upside usually comes, and the payout is over a longer time.

For those of you training now, I would recommend completing your training through CFI and CFII. Yes, it’s very difficult to get a CFI job right now. If you wait until things are better, two things happen.

First, you aren’t qualified for the job because you don’t have the certificates.

Second, the person who did get the job will be hired by an airplane sooner than you and will have a lower seniority number. Everything in flying an airplane is about your seniority number.

It may be that you need to take on another job until the hiring returns. If so, stay current. Be ready to work as soon as a job becomes available.

Also, in my experience, jobs are available at times. It may be in a different city or state. It may become known to you because of someone you met at a conference. Who knows?

So if you are just starting flight training, I think this is good for you. You should be done in a few years, and there should be an upside by then. It could be sooner. By being in training, you can set the pace. If you need to slow down, you can. If you need to speed up because hiring is getting closer, you can control that, too, for the most part.

If you are a new CFI or CFII, keep looking. If you have a few friends who want to learn to fly, you can make a good case to a Part 61 school for letting you work there because you are already bringing them business. If you aren’t able to do that, at least be persistent in looking for work. Go to conferences and events. Make a point or join NAFI and SAFE. There are people in those organizations who have their finger on the pulse of flight training and who may be hiring. Many flight school owners belong to these organizations. There is another, called Flight School Association International, that represents flight schools. They have an annual conference. You can see which schools are members. Schools that join these associations typically take a more dedicated approach to flight training and, in many cases, are the busiest

It’s thunderstorm season - How do we fly in South Florida during the summer?

Kaboom!  It’s nearly summer in South Florida, and the swamp is starting to boil, which means hot and humid conditions and the return of the thunderstorms.

For those of you who don’t usually get thunderstorms, the only experience you've probably had is what you've read or a video you've watched. You got the basics like how they form, the differences between airmass and frontal storms, and the like. You also know that you should avoid them by around 20 miles. Going around and not getting close.

Flying through a thunderstorm is rarely survivable.

So what do we do here in the Miami area from June until late October?

It’s all about the climatology in the area you are in. Here, we typically have airmass thunderstorms that build up in the afternoon and move with the local steering winds aloft. Typically slow-moving. We do have frontal storms that

Move rapidly, and you can see the difference in speed of movement on the radar.

Here in Miami, the airmass thunderstorms begin around noon and end around 5. In most cases, we just don’t fly then. There are exceptions. For example, most storms are powerful and short-lived. There can be windows of no storms while another series approaches. Not always, but sometimes. We may use an opportunity like that to depart and do a cross-country into better weather, allowing us to return after 5 or when everything settles down.

By looking outside, we can see these storms and avoid them if they are mostly scattered. We never fly below clouds with defined rain shafts (huge downdrafts and microbursts). We don’t fly near a cloud with active lightning.

We are also mindful of cloud-to-cloud lightning and avoid those areas, even though the cell isn’t exactly there.

We also use ADS-B radar. We don’t rely on it to get near, but we use it to avoid and look for opportunities between storms.

If hail is in the forecast or we see big supercells, we try to hangar the airplanes to avoid damage. Usually we have agreements with signature and the like to hangar them if there is any suspicion and move them back out when the storms are over. This costs, but they have the rigs to do it quickly.

People who come to our place to train during thunderstorm season sometimes ask, “Can we fly now?”  I always answer, “Yes, but you won’t come back!”

The last piece of advice I’ll give you isn’t about thunderstorms per se, but it’s closely related.

Don’t park your plane under or near a coconut palm tree. Those coconuts can do a lot of damage during the wind event associated with a thunderstorm.

Some areas are prone to flooding, so ask whether your intended parking area is. Standing water can prevent you from getting to your plane. Drainage is typically quick after the storm.

Power Hour 300 is coming in August - A Big Milestone

Our 300th power hour is only ten weeks away. That’s over six years of every Saturday that isn’t a holiday.

We have covered a multitude of topics in almost everything airplane-related.

We started with 8 people on Zoom during the first show. Now we have over 500.

We also added Wings credit for most shows and an after-show where we open 'attendees' mics to talk. That has been a real success, and it’s a venue that no one else has.

It’s free form for the after-show, and we have people in the room who always amaze. We’ve had past FAA Managers of entire divisions, test pilots, ALPA past president, AMEs, DPEs, aviation researchers, every kind of pilot and instructor, and so on. Everyone is welcome. Everything is free. The after-show can go on for hours. We typically start with around 250, and by the time we shut down, there are usually around 40. We just listen, and it’s kind of like popping popcorn. When more than x seconds pass between pops, we shut down. It’s rarely before 2 hours after the show, and last week we went 4 hours. What a great way to spend a Saturday that you aren’t flying.

We also rebroadcast the show each Wednesday at 8 pm Eastern time. We also have a smaller after-show with around 130 people. It also has wings credit, and Nick and I are there to answer questions and keep the flow going.

We will do something super special for the 300th show. There will be freebies, a super sale, and I’m planning to host a few games in the after-show with prizes.

Join us every Saturday at noon Eastern time.

CFI Aeronautical Knowledge Gaps Course is Ready

We are proud to release our latest course for those studying to become flight instructors.

This new course addresses the hard stuff in CFI initial training. Those areas that not just any ok CFi knows.

A good use case for this course is this:

You have a CFI who is qualified to train initial CFIs, but they aren’t very good with the FOI, endorsements, training beyond student, private, and commercial pilots, and flight reviews. They don’t have lesson plans that fit into a syllabus that you can use, and so on. They are great at everything else; they are at your home airport and have a good relationship with a DPE who does initial CFIs. Maybe you have even tested with their DPE before and like the person. Home field advantage for sure.

If this sounds like you, then this knowledge gaps course is for you. It covers all of the hard studs in four modules:

1. Fundamentals of instructing. Taking each chapter, making it conversational, and teaching you how to apply it to instruction.

2. Using a Syllabus and Modifying Lesson Plans

   Shown you how to use a syllabus, modify a lesson plan to become a preflight briefing, and how to teach the same lesson to different levels and to different learners. 

3. Training, Endorsements, and Testing Requirements

   This addresses: Key FARs, Student pilots, initial certification for recreational, sport, private, and commercial certificates. Additional category and class ratings. How to solo a person who holds a certificate other than a student pilot. Flight instructors, Flight Review, and other Aircraft authorizations. We use scenarios and flowcharts in these lessons.

4. Practical training

   How to use IACrA as a flight instructor. How to validate a or five wings credit. Modifying your teaching to fit a learner.

This course also has study guides for each lesson and a quiz with answers and explanations.

There is also a comprehensive Workbook with quizzes, games, fill-in-the-blank exercises, matching exercises, and other activities. It also has a 100-question final test with answers and explanations. This is a bonus document and will be provided to newsletter and Power Hour subscribers who purchase the course.

The course list price is $600, but for the next week you can get it for $300. That includes the new workbook as a bonus. You also get a copy of our Endorsements and Scenarios ebook, which includes 53 scenarios with solutions and, in most cases, flow charts to guide you through the correct regulations.

Pro Tips

1. Don’t push on the spinner.

The spinner is a full metal cone that attaches to a nutplate. The nutplate is attached to the engine at the propeller location. The spinner’s function is to direct air into the engine and over the cylinders for cooling when flying.

If you push on the spinner, especially on the sides, you can crack the nut plate and possibly tweak the spinner. It doesn’t take much force to do it.

Push on the propeller hub (don’t turn it), or on the engine cowling instead.

2. Don’t leave the tow bar connected unless you are using it.

Many pilots have taxied and have even taken off with the tow bar connected. It’s very easy to get distracted and forget about it.

Take the safe route. Connect the towbar only when you are actively using it. Don’t leave it connected to help a passenger, go back inside the FBO, etc.; These events can all lead to you forgetting about it.

3. Determine the farthest and closest point you can glide to.

It is possible to determine the shallowest and steepest angle you can glide at while maintaining a speed you can land from. Whaaauuuttt?

Here is how to do it:

From a height of around 300 AGL, close the throttle and set the best glide speed. Once the speed is stable, look out the front windscreen and determine which area on the ground remains stationary. That is where the plane will contact the ground if nothing else is done. Look at the space between the horizon and that point. This is the farthest you can glide and the shallowest angle you can glide at. Now use your fingers and determine how many fingers are between the horizon and that point. Your hand should be stretched out in front of you, with your fingers spread sideways, so they go from index to pinky. It may be that you need another hand because it’s more than five fingers.

Now apply maximum allowable flaps and maximum slip (if permitted by the POH). Stay at the best glide speed. When the speed is stable, notice that the point on the ground that is now stationary is closer to your plane. More distance from the horizon to the new spot. That is the steepest angle you can glide at and maintain this speed.

Using your hands like before, measure how many fingers from the horizon to this new stationary point.

So, you know the shallowest and steepest angle you can use in your plane. If you want to descend to a point on the ground for an accuracy landing or an engine-out, you know that if the point is between the two points you identified, you can do it. If not, then the gold would be too shallow or too steep.